Garment press



J. C. LEDBETTIER GARMENT PRES S Filed Oct. 26, 1923 Smucmtoz James 6. Ledfie 17W machines having means for steam spraying,

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G. lhllllllllhmll'llltl t, @ll Bltt'ltllfh'lllll, l llEllf "lZU'EtE,ASSIGNUR, BY MESNE ASlEllltzllilllthlildlld, f0 ltHllll PROSPERITYtltlllllll dlllll", INK, 01E SYZ'RAGUSE, NEW YORK, ah. GEOR- applicationriled hctoher 5th, man.

This invention relates to pressing machines and particularly to garmentpressing heating, and air drying the garments, and relates further toimprovements in air and vacuum drying means for garment presses.

An object of the invention is to produce an improved garment pressingmachine capable of quickly steam spraying and heat drying a garment, andthereafter rapidly air drying it by improved air circulating means whichis either simultaneously or independently operated by the press closingand opening mechanism. An additional ob-- ject is to produce an aircirculating, drying, and cooling means whereby garments are ready towear immediately they come old the press. Furthermore it is an object toproduce an improved combination garment press and air pump in the natureof a vacuum bellows which forms an attachment for said garment *pressingmachines and is capable of being quickly applied to machines in presentday use, the attachment being simple and inexpensive in structure andbeing very readily installed on steam pressing machines, thus reducingto a nominal figure the cost of converting present day garment steampresses into vacuum steam presses.

With the above principal objects in view, the invention has relation tocertain improved combinations and arrangements of parts an example ofwhich is shown in the accompanying drawings illustrating an embodimentof the invention serving to disclose the construction and mode ofoperation thereof. The machine may be varied in construction, operation,and use without departing from the scope of the invention; and it'isunderstood therefore that the marketable structure itself may varysomewhat from the accompanying drawings.

The figure in the drawings illustrates a pressing machine constructed inaccordance with the principles of the invention, the said press beingshown in open position with some of the principal parts thereof shown insection.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings for a further anddetailed description of the invention, there is shown a pressing machineframe 5 upon which is pivoted at l a press lever ti," and a pressinghead or jaw l? is carried on the forward of the hertal lilo. err-ma.

press lever while a counter-balance weight it is carried on the rear endof the press lever to balance the head 7 thereby rendering the partsmore readily operable. A, pressing buck or jaw 9 is supported on thepress frame and cooperates with the head 7 through the closing operationof the head and thus provides cooperating pressing members actuatedthrough the agency of mechanism to be described.

Any suitable form of operating mechanism for raising and lowering thehead or closing and opening the press is provided; andin this instance abell crank comprising a pedal 11 integrally carrying an upwardlyextending toggle link 12 is provided with a bearing hub 13 pivotallysupported on the frame 5. The upper end of the toggle link 12 pivotallyconnects at it with a toggle link 15 which is in turn pivot/ed at 16 tothe rear end of the press lever 6, thereby establishing a manual pedaloperating means for opening and closing the press. The. counter-balanceweight 8 may be slightly over Weighted to lift the head at the end ofthe pressing operation, or a tension spring may beused for this purpose.

lPressing machines are usually provided wrth steam spraying and steamheating means for spraying the garment with steam to sterilize thefabric, raise the nap thereof, and generally improvd the appearance ofthe garment. lln addition. to these features, ll improve my pressingmachine in respect to the quick air drying means which is adapted torapidly remove the heat and steam from the garment following the steamspray and heat treatment thereof. To this end a main steam supply pipe18 connects with the head 7 through a pipe 19; and steam is supplied tothe other pressing member h either for heating the buck, spraying thegarment, or both, through a pipe 20. it heating chamber 21 is providedin one or both pressing members; and another chamber 22 is likewiseprovided in one or both pressing members as described, and is utilizedfor the purpose of either steam spraying the garment supported thereonor for circulating air therethrough or for both such operations,depending upon the general character and type of pressing machine. Theair circulating chamber 22 is provided with a toraminous pressingsurfaced? in till till

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order that air or steam be blown out through the garment placed on thebuck 9.0r in order that air be drawn therethrough, either of whichoperation is productive of rapid cooling and drying the previouslysteamed sprayed and heated garment. A steam spray or sponging valve 23is mounted upon the one or the other of the pressing members for thepurpose of releasing steam from the main supply pipe through theforaminous pressing surface to treat the garment. In this instance thesteam valve 23 releases steam from the head 7 through the perforatedpressing face 24 of the head onto the garment; and the perforatedpressing surface 25 of the buck is designed to rapidly withdraw thesteam from the garment through the agency of an improved bellows vacuummeans as will be described.

[in improved means of developing vacuum or producing air circulation inpressing machines is shown in the accompanying drawings and consists ofa bellows operated by the pedal 11 or operated independently thereofdepending upon the desires of the operator and the character of garmentsbeing pressed. The bellows comprises a base plate 27 fixed at someconvenient point to the frame of the machine while an operating bellowsplate 28 is pivoted at 29 upon the stationary plate 27 and bellows cloth3O envelops the operating parts, as in bellows pump construction, toprovide an air tight closure. The bellows pump connects through an airsuction pipe 31 with the-vacuum or air circulating chamber 22. Anysuitable valve in the form of a flap valve 32 is pivotally mounted overthe port of the air pipe 31 in the bellows and is limited in movement bya stop bracket 33. When the bellows plate 28 is moved upwardly tocollapse and fold in the bellows cloth 30 the said flap valve 32 closes,thereby preventing air from flowing upwardly through the pipe 31 andcausing the air to exhaust outwardly through a discharge port 34 toatmosphere. The flap valve 35 is pivotally carried over the port 34: andis restrained in movement by a stop bracket 36. The bellows movesupwardly to exhaust the air therefrom and is drawn downwardly to openposition shown in the drawings which closes the valve 35 and opens thevalve 32 thereby withdrawing air from the chamber 22 which promotes arapid influx of air through the perforated pressing face 25 of the buckand consequently dries and cools the garment held on the work support 9by virtue of drawing cool air down through the fabric.

Any suitable means may be provided for operating the bellows air pump.In the present instance I have shown operating means under the controlof the press closing pedal 11, and this arrangement consists of an arm38 anchored to the pivoted bellows plate 28. A pull link 39 is connectedto the arm 38 and preferably possessesia lost motion connection 40 withthe pedal 11. When the pedal 11 is depressed to straighten the togglelinks 12-15, it follows that the bellows 3O collapses upwardly toexhaust the air therefrom through the port 3i which sets the bellows 30in proper position to produce an influx of air through the garment whenthe head rises. For each press closing stroke as executed by the pedal11, there is also simultaneously produced a pump Stroke in the bellowsand for ordinary pressing this one pump stroke is suflicient to displacesuflicient air to cool the garment.

However, "some garments require more steam spraying and steam heatingtreatment and consequently require displacement of a greater volume ofair for the purpose oi removing the large amount of steam and heatimpregnated in the garment. To this end l have provided an improvedbellows operating means which may be operated independently of the pressclosing means thereby allowing the pressing machine op erator to pumpthe bellows one or two strokes in addition to the press closingoperation. A manually operated pump lover in the form of a pedal 41 ispivoted on the frame at any convenient point adjacent the pedal 11. Alink 4-2 pivot-ally connects the pedal 41 with the bellows. The operatormay work the bellows pump 30 by depressing the pedal 41 independently ofthe pressing pedal 11. A tension spring 43 acts to return the bellows toan open position and draw air through the chamber 22 after the operatorsfoot is removed from either one or the other pedal.

The object of the lost motion connection 40 is to so arrange the partsthat the bellows 30 may always be operated simultaneously with thedownward stroke of the pedal 11, yet at the same time )ermits theoperator to depress the pump pe a1 il without moving the head closingpedal 11; and thus after the garment is acted on normally by the onebellows suction stroke as initiated by the. rising motion of the presshead, the operator may produce as many additional vacuum suction strokesas he desires without moving the pressing parts of the machine.

In some garment factories and pressing establishments it is founddesirable to disconnect the link 39 from the bellows in order that thepress closing and pump operating functions be independently operated;and for this purpose, the lost motion connection 40 may be constructedin the form of a pin as shown in the drawings, and it swivels to permitthe pull link 39 to be pushed downwardly alongside the pedal 11 where itis conveniently kept accessible and prevented from being lost when notin use. The pivot pin re is withdrawn from the pump arm. 33

'any time he chooses.

estate and inserted through the pedal 11 and link 39after the link hasbeen placed alongside the pedal as shown in dotted lines. Havingdisconnected the link 39 from the pump, the operator is now free to usethe bellows at This arrangement constitutes a special convenience forthe reason that some classes of goods may not require air drying whileothers to be pressed at some subsequent or prior time may requiredrying. Furthermore, by disconnecting the vacuum pump from the presspedal 11, the operator is able to simultaneously operate the bellows andopen the steam spray valve 23 thereby projecting a deluge of steam allthe way thru the garment on the buck which cleans and renews thegarment.

The improved bellows pump is simple to manufacture for it compriseslittle material and is usually constructed of two boards or plates asshown, together with the air tight bellows cloth. llt is simple to mountor install the bellows suction pump under the frame of a pressingmachine and connect it up with the steam chamber of a pressing machinethereby converting an ordinary steam spraying press of the present-dayuse into a combination steam spraying and air drying garment press. Apressing machine of this construction having steam spraying and dryingfacilities for treating garments is especially beneficial in renewingand preserving garments. After a garment is steam sprayed between thepressing jaws or memhere, the said garment is thoroughly sterilized.Furthermore, the dirt and spots are eradicated therefrom. The garmentpossesses distinctively sharp creases and press till lines. llf thegarment is removed from the press in the moist hot condition existingafter the steam spray operation, it follows that the garment is notready for wear and furthermore the garment quickly loses its pressedcreases because it is hot, soft, and limp. By operating the bellows 30'through one or two strokes, a large volume of air is instantly drawndownwardly through the garment whereby the steam and heat are removedtherefrom rendering the'garment readily wearable and making its creasesmore permanent and durable because the garment has set and is inwearable condition when it comes from the press.

What I claim is:

1. A garment press comprising in combination, cooperating press jaws atleast one of which has'an air chamber provided with a perforatedpressing surface, an air pump connected with the chamber, operatingmeans to open and close the press, an operating device connected withthe pump to work the pump independently of the press operating means toforce air through the chamber when the press jaws are stationary, and

means for connecting the pump with the press operating means by whichsaid pump may be driven simultaneously with the opening and closing ofthe press.

2. A press comprising in combination, cooperating press jaws atleast oneof which has an air chamber provided with a perforated pressing surface,an air pump connected with the chamber, press operating.

mechanism to simultaneously operate the pressan'd drive the pump, anoperator operable member connected with the pump, and means whereby thepress operating mechanism is not operated when the member is has an airchamber provided with a per-' forated pressing surface, a pump connectedwith the chamber, a first operator operable mechanism which opens andcloses the press and simultaneously drives the pump, a second operatoroperable mechanism adapted to drive the pump only, means forming part ofone of the mechanisms by which that mechanism may be rendered inedectiveduring operation of the other mechanism.

5. A press comprising in combination, cooperating press jaws at leastone of which has an air chamber provided with a perforated pressingsurface, a bellows placed under the press jaws, a bellows leverprojecting toward the front of the press underneath the jaws andconnected with the bellows to operate the latter, a pedal connected withthe bellows lever, a jaw operating pedal connected with a press jaw toopen and close the press, and a slip connection cooperating with thebellows lever and jaw operating pedal.

In testimony whereof ll afidx my signature.

JAMES o, nnnenrrnn.

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